Bowling lanes must meet certain criteria established by the American Bowling Congress if the bowler's scores in league play are to be accepted as official, much in the same way as other sports such as golf, baseball, tennis, etc. have rules governing the clubs, the ball, the net height and other factors which if left uncontrolled would lead to unmanageable inequalities among the participants. In the case of bowling, this means cleaning, reoiling and buffing each lane in accordance with strict specifications sometimes as much as two or three times a day depending upon the amount of use and to some extent the caliber of play. In other words, tournament bowlers with high averages probably insist upon more frequent "conditioning" of the lanes than the average bowler engaged in non-league play. Be that as it may, between each such conditioning of the lanes in which they are stripped of the dressing previously applied, resurfaced in the sense of applying a new coat of oil to selected areas and then buffed, they are periodically stripped by applying a solvent followed by a vacuuming operation to remove the dirt and dust that collects and sticks to the oiled surfaces. It is not uncommon, for example, in a well-managed "house" to have all of the lanes dusted at the end of each three-line series in which they were used. Somewhat less often, perhaps once or twice during a twenty-four hour period, each lane is stripped and vacuumed. Following each stripping operation, the lanes must be reoiled in accordance with established American Bowling Congress specifications. The consequence of not properly conditioning the lanes is, of course, erratic and unpredictable ball action during its movement toward the pins and this, in turn, makes for scores that are either higher or lower than they should be.
The method most frequently used for stripping the lanes preparatory to reoiling them is to apply a suitable solvent and then vacuum it up along with the dust, dirt and accumulated oil. The vacuum sweepers customarily used are electrically-powered and guided by spring-biased wheels running in the gutters alongside the lane. Located forwardly of the tank into which is delivered the dust and dirt and used solvent sucked up off the lane is a downwardly-opening manifold extending transversely the 10 full width of the lane. Squeegees made from an elastic material border the intake opening of this manifold and become the elements which actually engage and sweep the wetted surface of the lane as well as adapting to variations in its contour.
The problem with these prior art lane-stripping machines is twofold in that, first of all, they are ineffective in carrying out their primary function, namely, that of cleaning the lanes of debris. Secondly, their design is such that the manifold or pickup head "hangs-up" at the foul line where the guide wheels on the carriage enter and leave the gutters alongside thereof due to the rigid connection between the pickup head and the motorized unit in which the debris is collected thus making it difficult to both move the unit onto the lane as well as remove it therefrom without gouging or otherwise damaging the lane surface. As a Practical matter, bowling lanes are not flat but slightly crowned or dished or both at various areas throughout their length. A rigidly-mounted pickup head would probably be adequate to vacuum up dust and other dry debris, however, such heads have proven to be totally inadequate to suck up small puddles and pools of solvent left in depressions in the lane surface. It also becomes very difficult to clean all the way back to the foul line when the guide wheels are riding up out of or down into the gutters and the head is incapable of accommodating the resulting tilt of the machine.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, therefore, relates to improvements in the aforementioned lane-vacuuming equipment, such improvements having to do with the mounting of the nozzle.
2. Description of the Related Art
The most pertinent prior art known to applicant is the lane-stripping apparatus described above which differs from that forming the subject matter hereof in that the pickup head is rigidly attached to the motorized unit housing the tank, motor, vacuum pump and the discharge end of the conduit connected to the nozzle through which the wet debris travels. Accordingly, no novelty is predicated on the apparatus as a whole, but rather, on the pivotal connection of the pickup head which allows it to float, self-adjust to the varying contours of different lanes and, most particularly, permits the lane to be wet-vacuumed all the way back to the foul line while at the same time preventing it from hanging up as its guide wheels enter and are removed from the gutters alongside thereof.
Insofar as prior art patents are concerned that deal with the cleaning of bowling lanes, only two have been found, namely, the early U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,682,168 issued to Dorl and 2,296,994 issued to Grant. Both of these patents, however, deal with mops and not vacuuming equipment yet alone wet vacuums capable of dispensing and sucking up dirt-laden solvent. Neither of these patents discloses a floating head nor would one be required in that they are only designed to pick up dry residues.
Ordinary dry vacuums with adjustable or even floating heads are, of course, known in the art, examples being those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,136,889; 2,172,973; 2,842,793; 2,850,757; 2,938,225; 3,827,103; 4,580,314 and 4,496,076. While the pickup heads in these prior art machines are generally movable relative to their carriage, they are unsuitable for the wet-vacuuming of a bowling lane. Moreover, the problems inherent in introducing and removing the machine from the lane without its head hanging up and the further problem of picking up pools and puddles of dirt-laden solvent lying in depressed areas are not solved by these machines.